Chapter 20: The Maverick Hunters
Area: Cyberspace Everyone is warped into cyberspace: a world inside a computer. Some wonder if they failed, but Neneko points out that The World is cyberspace too; just a different cyberspace. Kite thinks it would be easier to see where they were going if there was a Chaos Gate, but Valkyrie finds one. Just then something comes out of it: Skeith. His appearance confirms their exit, and something else comes out: Ciseaux. He explains that he was chasing after Skeith, and states that the Phase dismantled The World's management system. At first the party asks if Aura's been destroyed, but Kite explains that she was split into several segments in the past, and it was Skeith who had done the deed. Without Aura monitoring The World, the same anomalies that plagued the net back then will likely repeat. Ciseaux challenges the party and the chapter begins. After some turns pass, Due appears again. Seems that she is supporting Ciseaux, but is still keeping her lips shut about her group's master plan. She then asks the party a question about how strange that Cisseaux is even here, depite that he died once before at the hands of the Paris Combat Revue in the past. Her hinting gives the heroes some thought: Adephagos, Aya-Me, Ciseaux, Skeith. They all died previously by the heroes' hands, and now another player comes forth: Vile. His entrance is immediately followed by the legendary Maverick Hunters themselves, X and Zero. KOS-MOS identifies the two newcomers fully for the others: Zero is the commander of the Special 0 Unit of the Hunters, while X commands the 17th Elite Division of the same unit, with a Servbot mentioning that Maverick Hunters fight out-of-control Reploids. Vile keeps ranting on and on about how he will be the one to change the world, though X still hesitates because of the fact that Reploids are always fighting and destroying each other. After Vile mocks him for his weakness, X then steels himself for battle as leader of the 17th Elite Unit. The others speculate that they are a special forces group, with Vile being a notorious criminal and having been destroyed in the past as well. Though Zero has info on some of the group, they decide to join up with the others to clear out the enemies. With more foreshadowing from Due, the battle resumes. Skeith escapes, and Due leaves some more cryptic hints about Mii's "power". After an insane rant, Vile takes off as the Hunters vow to stop him. After the Prelude is scrapped yet again, Ciseaux bows out as well. After a scan by Alisa B., X starts asking questions when KOS-MOS detects an energy source coming from the nearby capsule. X explains that the data capsule is already offline when a voice calls out. A segment of Aura appears and explains her plight. Skeith broke her apart once again, her segments scattered throughout The World. If the capsule weren't there, none of her program would have escaped. After giving Kite coordinate data for The World, he transports everyone to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground. She announces that they are now in The World and cannot leave until her segments are found. She then takes them to Mac Anu to begin a series of segment hunts. Party Members Kogoro & Mii Bahn Akira & Pai Ryu & Ken Frank & Hsien-Ko Tron & Servbots Zephyr & Leanne Vashyron Soma & Alisa Lindow Kite & BlackRose Neneko Gemini & Erica Valkyrie Ichiro & Sakura Reiji & Xiaomu Arthur Dante & Demitri KOS-MOS & T-elos Alisa B. Haken & Kaguya Sänger Heihachi Lady Yuri & Estelle Kurt & Riela Imca Toma & Cyrille Jin & Xiaoyu Devilotte Flynn Chun-Li & Morrigan Batsu X & Zero Enemies Mettaur C-15 x5 Horokko x2 Horokko (Red) x3 Goblin x2 Fiend Menhir x2 Headhunter x3 Statue Menhir x2 Skeith (Boss) Equipment Drop: Goblin Gloves Blanche x3 Jaune x2 Prelude (Boss) Oros Serpus x3 Oros Primus x3 Oros Avius x2 Due Flabellum (Boss) Equipment Drop: Medicinal Compress Vile (Boss) Equipment Drop: Crash Bomb Sharukurusu (Red) x1 Sharukurusu (Green) x2 Gunbolt x2 Ride Armor (Green) x2 Mettaur D2 x5 Items Perfect Aid x2 Trivia *Zephyr gets the name of The World confused with Neverland, a bonus dungeon in Resonance of Fate. The dungeon itself is an abandoned amusement park that houses extremely difficult enemies. *Cyberspace was the stage that Cyber Peacock occupied in Mega Man X4. While technically his stage, he did not own cyberspace itself. *Aura was scattered into three pieces during the events of the original .hack game series, starting with Infection. Kite and BlackRose managed to find them all before the final battle against the eighth Phase Corbenick in the fourth and final installment, Quarantine. *The item boxes throughout the stage are Energy Sub-Tanks from the Mega Man X series. *Sigma was a recurring villain in the Mega Man X series. Once the leader of the Maverick Hunters, he suddenly turned Maverick himself and led a coup against humanity on numerous occasions. *The capsules throughout the Mega Man X series contain messages from Dr. Light, the scientist responsible for X's creation, with data for armor designed for X. In Mega Man X4, the capsule in the Cyber Space stage provided X the helmet for his Force Armor. *This is the first time X and Zero have ever fought alongside humans, and by extension humanoid beings. Humans are generally considered evacuated and in hiding in the Mega Man X series and are not able to stand against Mavericks. Category:Project X Zone Category:Chapter Category:PXZ1 Chapter